


Clothes Make the Man

by greygerbil



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 17:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7693516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greygerbil/pseuds/greygerbil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rafael always has something to say about the things Sonny chooses to wear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clothes Make the Man

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt given by Power-Bottom-Barba, who wanted "Barba dressing Sonny because he loves clothes and Sonny is so tall and lean and fun to dress." Thanks for the idea!

“Did you think you were tying your shoelaces?”

“Haha,” Sonny made, leaning his head back to give Rafael’s fingers more room. With quick, routine movements, he fixed the bowtie that Sonny had been fiddling with for five full minutes before surrendering and asking for help.

“It’s difficult to do it when you’re wearing it,” he complained.

“And they allow someone with fine motor skills like that to handle a gun…”

This time, Sonny forewent an answer and just poked Rafael’s side, going right for that ticklish spot under his ribs and making him jump. It messed up the knot he was holding, but was worth it for the high-pitched noise Rafael made in the back of his throat.

“Would you like to wear a clip-on like a kid going to their elementary school graduation?” Rafael asked, indignantly.

“Nah, you’d never actually let me do that. You have to be seen with me, after all.”

When a brief shadow of a smile touching Rafael’s lips showed Sonny he was right, his grin only grew wider. He waited for Rafael to finish his work and glanced at the mirror, the two of them standing next to each other in their black tuxedos looking pretty damn good together.

“Thanks,” he said.

However, his boyfriend frowned at their reflections.

“I don’t like the fabric of the bowtie with the satin lapels of your jacket,” Rafael decided.

Peering down, even though he obviously couldn’t see his own neck like that, Sonny felt the bowtie.

“Is anyone really gonna notice the fabric on something that small?”

“I do.”

“You can help me order one online for next time,” Sonny said, with a shrug, and pressed his hand on the small of Rafael’s back to move him towards the door of Sonny’s tiny apartment. “Alright, we gotta get goin’, or we’ll be late for the play.”

“I insist on being part of that process. Who knows what you’ll choose on your own?”

-

“Hey, Raf, can you gimme your opinion on something?”

“I don’t usually even have to be asked,” Rafael called back from the living room and Sonny laughed, throwing the three swimming trunks back on his bed, waiting for Rafael to join him. His boyfriend came to lean in the bedroom doorway, still holding his newspaper.

“Which of these is best? My family wants to go to the beach next weekend.”

“You’ll have to put them on for me to tell.”

So Sonny did, hyperaware of Rafael’s eyes on him, watching him undress and then pull the trunks on and off one after the other. Nothing but a brief flicker of excitement in his eyes betrayed that he was enjoying the show. If he ever wanted to be an A.D.A., Sonny thought, he would need to learn to keep his poker face as well as Rafael did, because if positions had been reversed, he’d definitely have been leering.

“What do you think?” Sonny asked, when he was done and standing in front of Rafael in the last pair of swim shorts.

Rafael shrugged his shoulders.

“They are all terrible,” he said, conversationally.

“Oh, come on.”

“This one has a Hawaiian floral print and that one has palm trees on it.”

He pointed at the offenders in turn, the latter of which Carisi was still wearing.

“Yeah, it’s the beach, Raf, it’s supposed to be fun.”

“There’s a difference between ‘fun’ and ‘I’m wearing my aunt’s shower curtains’.” Rafael picked up the remaining pair of trunks he hadn’t yet commented on from the bed. “I hesitate to recommend these, but considering the picture of the shark, I think your throng of under-twelve relatives would probably like them. Besides, they have a surprisingly good fit.”

Sonny picked up the shorts. “I don’t know, I like the flower print!” He nudged Rafael. “You’re just complaining about my trunks ‘cause you want to see me to wear a Speedo.”

“Not in front of your nana, no.”

Grinning, Sonny stepped closer and crowded Rafael against the doorframe, or tried to; with that self-satisfied smile on Rafael’s face, it was difficult to feel like he was really towering over him.

“What kind of swimming clothes do you own?”

“I have square cut shorts in black.”

“Tight or wide?”

“Form-fitting,” Barba said, raising a brow.

“Why don’t you come with me and show them off?”

The smirk slipped off his face, leaving Rafael just looking dumbfounded for a little moment, which quickly transferred into an expression filled with doubt.

“You want me to come meet your family?”

“Yah, they’ll be happy to get to know you,” Sonny said, pushing forward despite the less-than-encouraging reaction. It had been a spur-of-the-moment idea, but he liked it anyway. They’d been dating for a while now and his family was important to him; why not have Rafael meet the lot of them now that they had an opportunity?

“I’d rather have my shirt on when I see your parents for the first time.”

“Come on, I’ll wear the shark trunks, too.”

“I’ll have you know the best of three bad choices is not a very good bribe.” Rafael glanced to the side. “Ask your parents first. I don’t want to show up uninvited, especially not in swim wear.”

Sonny beamed.

In the end, Rafael had a bad cold the day they went to the beach, so he came in sand-coloured slacks and a white shirt and Sonny wore Rafael’s form-fitting square cut shorts because he had to admit they did look a lot better than sharks or flowers or palm trees. Besides, Rafael was now doomed to sit with his oldest aunts and uncles guarding everyone’s clothes and getting advice on pre-1950s Sicilian cold medicine, so Sonny thought he should at least have something nice to see whenever he craned his neck to look for Sonny in the water.

-

“That’s a nice shirt.”

Bella pointed a spoon full of applesauce in Sonny’s direction before she pushed it into her daughter’s mouth.

With a grin, Sonny straightened his collar. He’d come from work to see Bella and his niece, so he was still in his suit and wearing a slim fit white shirt with unobtrusive grey pinstripes that matched the colour of his suit without being completely the same. How the hell Rafael had remembered the shade of grey that suit had out on a trip without even having Sonny there in said suit, he had no idea.

“Yeah, Raf got it for me.”

Bella made a mocking cooing sound.

“Oh, so this is where we’re at with the two of you.”

Sonny pulled his chair up next to Bella, watching little Paula’s lips pull into a smile as he came back into her field of vision. With a grin, he tousled his niece’s wispy blonde hair.

“What’s weird about that? My boyfriend got me a gift. That’s nothin’ special, is it?”

Although Sonny did suspect Rafael had spent more on that shirt than Sonny personally would have, just from how well-made the seams were and how soft the fabric felt against his skin. The price tag had been gone when Rafael had handed it to him.

“He’s buying your clothes, though, you know, and not even for your birthday or anything. When I started buying Tommy his stuff, we moved in together like two months later. That’s totally a wife thing to do.”

“It’s not like he picks all of my stuff,” Sonny said. “And I wouldn’t be the kinda husband who forgets how to buy his own underpants.”

“Oh, but you are gonna be a husband, huh? Rafael’s husband?”

“Shush,” Sonny said, trying not to smile. He would have said ‘shut up’, but not in front of Paula.

“Well, it’s fine,” Bella teased, circling the spoon in front of Paula’s face. “He’s got better taste than you, anyway.”

When Sonny laid in bed that evening, with Rafael reading Gravity’s Rainbow next to him, he touched Rafael’s shoulder to get his attention.

“Why’d you buy that shirt for me? The one I wore today?”

Rafael turned to looked at him.

“Because I thought you’d look good in it, and I was right.” He frowned slightly. “Why? Don’t you like?”

“No, I do, I just wondered if you always go around stores thinking about what to dress me in.”

Rafael shifted a little closer. He wore actual pyjamas, which was a look Sonny was in love with even as he himself lounged in his boxers and his oldest police academy t-shirt every night.

“You’re just easy to shop for. With your figure, you can make many things look good. But don’t worry, I’m not actively trying to purge your beloved hideous hoodies and khaki shorts from your wardrobe.” Rafael raised a brow at him and smiled. “They are a weakness I have chosen to accept.”

Sonny pulled him in for a kiss. Those clothes were fine, in his opinion, but the thought of Rafael contemplating a rack of shirts in a men’s clothing store, imagining the way Sonny would look in each of them, was too nice to get him to stop. He also had Bella’s words about that being a _wife thing to do_ still in the back of his mind. Sonny loved the idea that they were that close and comfortable with each other.

“I wouldn’t say no if you wanted to come shopping with me sometimes. I’m gonna be a lawyer at some point, after all. I’ve got to update my wardrobe.”

“If you’re serious, this could actually end up being the first time anyone might have a reason to call me a good influence,” Rafael muttered against his mouth and Sonny could feel his lips curling into a smile.

-

Sonny downed half bottle of water and only stopped drinking because he needed to breath. He’d been out most of the day in full uniform, with a thick bulletproof vest and heavy boots, the sun burning down on them as thirty-five officers chased three perps related to their latest case in all directions through the South Bronx. It had been one hell of a chase and finally ended with two of them in custody, one who-knew-where.

Sonny, who’d been up at five am to check some data at the precinct and thus at work for some fourteen hours, had gotten leave to get in a cop car and drive home. Benson and Rollins stayed behind to process the two guys they had managed to capture.

He’d called Rafael on the way and imagined Benson had also been on the phone with him after they had put the guys behind bars. From the kitchen, he saw Rafael at the living room table, no doubt working the very case on his laptop. He got up when he saw Sonny had hydrated himself enough to be ready for human communication.

“Good job out there,” he said. “Three spooked perps and yet, no dead people. Miracles do happen.”

“Yeah, but there’s one guy still on the loose.”

Usually, Sonny was an optimist, but frustration could set in after the kind of day he’d had. For this kind of effort and risk, you didn’t want to have two thirds of a victory.

“Two aren’t and I’m guessing that doesn’t make number three’s chances any bigger,” Rafael said calmly. “These kind of gangsters are business men, essentially. Nine times out of ten, they turn on each other for a deal. Let me talk to them tomorrow.”

Taking a deep breath and then another swig of cold water, Sonny looked at Rafael’s determined expression and slowly nodded his head. He was right. They’d done well that day and it was good not to forget that. It wouldn’t properly honour the officers he’d worked with to focus on their losses rather than their wins, either.

When Rafael leaned in, Sonny inclined his head to meet him in a kiss. It was a slow, languid one that pulled Sonny out of the chase mindset and grounded him, his adrenaline ebbing away as he grabbed Rafael’s hips.

His boyfriend stepped back after a long moment, looking up at him. His fingers brushed his rough uniform sleeve with a thoughtful gaze.

“What?” Sonny asked, bemused, because that was the same look Rafael had given some of his cheaper suits. “Sorry, I can’t get rid of this one. You’ll have to take it up with the brass.”

“No, I think this will do just fine as it is.”

Rafael grabbed Sonny’s wrist and tugged him towards the couch.

“On the contrary,” he said, a smirk slowly spreading on his lips as he pulled Sonny down with him, drawing him close for another kiss, “right now, I don’t want you to take it off at all.”


End file.
